Posts Tagged ‘Infiniti concept’

The mysterious Infiniti QX80 Monograph will make its debut in New York next week.

Infiniti has some big news coming at next week’s New York International Auto Show – big as in its largest SUV, the QX80.

An all-new version is reportedly on its way for the 2019 model-year, and the luxury arm of Nissan Motor Co. has confirmed it will be revealing a show car version in the Big Apple that it has dubbed the Infiniti QX80 Monograph.

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The Japanese maker isn’t saying much about the Monograph, it’s press release even shorter than the latest White House tweet, simply declaring, “Huge unveil. 11 April 2017. New York.” But the teaser image and a little detective work offers a few hints of what’s to come.

The shape of things to come? Infiniti tweaks its design concept, the QX Inspiration.

At a Paris Motor Show marked by the absence of a number of key brands, Infiniti seems determined to fill in the gaps. The Japanese luxury brand rolled into the City of Lights with a pair of updated models, as well as the debut of a radical new engine design that could give gasoline propulsion some new life in the face of a quickening assault by battery power and other alternative technologies.

From a product standpoint, the big news is the world debut of the updated Infiniti Q50, the midsize sedan receiving some styling tweaks and a number of technology upgrades for the 2017 model-year. Also on hand, the “design evolution” of the QX Inspiration that first grabbed the spotlight last April and hints at the future styling language for the Infiniti brand.

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Arguably, the most dramatic news centers around the debut of the VC-Turbo, the world’s first production engine that can automatically alter its own compression ratio to find the sweet spot, at any moment, for performance, fuel economy and emissions.

The Infiniti QX Sport Inspiration Concept is a wee bit smaller than the QX70 it's expected to replace.

Officially, it’s just a concept car, but one doesn’t have to work hard to imagine that the new Infiniti Inspiration QX Sport Concept is little more than a thinly disguised version of the next-generation QX70.

True, there are a few of the classic concept details, like the undersized mirrors and oversized tires. But the grille features the latest Infiniti touches, as do the LED headlamps and vertical air scoops. So, too, the “floating” roof, supported by blacked-out B and C-pillars.

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“The QX Sport Inspiration is a statement of intent from Infiniti, showcasing a daring design philosophy and a demonstration of our capabilities in the mid-size SUV segment, said Infiniti President Roland Krueger.

A hint of what's to come: the Infiniti QX Sport Inspiration Concept will likely replace the QX70.

Now that it has its naming structure down pat, Infiniti has been working on filling up its line-up with an assortment of new cars, trucks and crossovers, and the next big entry into the family is scheduled to take a bow at the Beijing Motor Show later month.

While it isn’t much in the way of details, this teaser image of the Infiniti QX Sport Inspiration Concept gives us a good idea of what will follow in the form of a replacement for the Japanese luxury brand’s current QX70 model.

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“The QX Sport Inspiration expresses a power and purpose that is uniquely Infiniti,” said Infiniti executive design director Alfonso Albaisa. “With a flowing, natural aesthetic, this concept demonstrates how Infiniti can offer something new and exciting with future QX SUV models.”

Infiniti has a new global boss, a German executive with “an accomplished track record” in the luxury car market. Roland Kruger will replace the recently departed Johan de Nysschen, who took a job as the head of General Motors’ struggling Cadillac.

The transition at Infiniti headquarters in Hong Kong comes at a crucial time for the brand, the luxury arm of Nissan preparing to launch a wave of new products designed to boost it from an afterthought to a major player in the global luxury car market.

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A major question is whether Kruger will continue the strategies outlined by de Nysschen, who had been pushing for a new flagship model, as well as a line of performance products that were expected to be dubbed Eau Rouge.

Infiniti is looking to bolster its image with some race-inspired concepts like the Q50 Eau Rouge.

Long an also-ran in the luxury car market, Infiniti is out to muscle its way into the first tier of upscale brands. And the new “racing-inspired” Q50 Eau Rouge Concept that is making its first appearance at the North American International Auto Show gives us a hint of what may be in store.

A lot has been happening, of late, at Infiniti. Nissan’s luxury brand has built a new headquarters in Hong Kong, gotten its own design and engineering resources, adopted an all-new model nomenclature – and for 2014 introduced the all-new Q50, a stylish replacement for the old G-Series.

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Like its Japanese rival, Lexus, Infiniti has come to recognize that design alone isn’t enough. It needs to deliver some passionate performance, and for that it has turned to its Formula One partner, Red Bull Racing, along with its four-time World Champion driver, Sebastian Vettel, who now serves as a consultant to Infiniti – and who is credited with helping pull together the Q50 Eau Rouge Concept. (more…)

Infiniti offers the first image of the Q50 Eau Rouge Concept - and asks fans to help reveal more.

Infiniti has released the first image of its “race-inspired” Q50 Eau Rouge concept a little more than a week before the prototype will make its debut at the 2014 North American International Auto Show.

The Eau Rouge, Infiniti explains “draws inspiration” from the Formula One program that pairs the Japanese luxury maker and its four-time World Champion-winning partner, Infiniti Red Bull Racing.

Infiniti's Q30 Concept will come quite close to the production version of the coupe...er, hatchback...er, crossover...er, vehicle.

To paraphrase the old Doublemint Gum tagline, the new Infiniti Q30 Concept is three, three, three cars in one.

Set to make its official world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month, the prototype is, as Infiniti’s release puts it, “not a coupe, not a hatch and not a crossover but a fusion of the three body styles.”

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The Q30 is the latest in a long-running series of prototypes – including the well-reviewed Essense, Etherea and Emerg-e – intended to reveal what the Nissan luxury brand refers to as “the contemporary design vision” it is following at this rather critical stage in its corporate life. Long stuck in the second tier of largely U.S.-focused upscale brands, Infiniti is now determined to reposition itself as a truly global Tier I luxury marque.

It’s barely five years since Infiniti belatedly made its entrance in the crowded European luxury market, and gaining traction hasn’t been easy, company officials acknowledge – which is why they’ve made a point of bringing some eye-catching concepts to the annual Geneva Motor Show.

What global design chief Shiro Nakamura dubbed the “third part of the Infiniti trilogy” is now on display and takes the Nissan luxury brand to a new extreme. Following on the original Essence and the more recent Etherea, the Infiniti Emerg-E concept provides a glimpse at what the maker might do if it were to push into supercar territory.

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But not just a conventional challenger to an establishment dominated by the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini, but one using a high-performance, battery-based drivetrain.

The heart of the striking 2-door is a plug-in driveline that can make 400 horsepower – enough to launch from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. But with a little less aggressive use of the throttle, Emerg-E will deliver up to 30 miles on lithium-ion battery power alone. Once the gasoline engine kicks in, it will get a total of 300 miles before having to recharge or refuel.

Infiniti has released images of a small concept that seems to defy categorization. The concept will debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March.

Infiniti’s ETHEREA concept is fairly small – just barely longer than a Nissan Versa – and has elements of a sedan, hatchback and crossover. The automaker says its profile is “distinctly different from anything else in the premium compact class.” Actually, there’s nothing on the road period with a shape like the ETHEREA.

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“ETHEREA is about a new type of luxury for younger buyers,” said Toru Saito, corporate vice president and leader of the Global Infiniti Business Unit. “It is not just a smaller version of a typically conservative and traditional luxury car.”